


30 Days

by altori



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Same-Sex Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-11 23:30:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7911778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altori/pseuds/altori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would you do if you were told you only had 30 more days left to live?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It's been seven years since we graduated high-school.

Five years since we first succumbed to the awkward sexual tension.

Four years since we've been in a steady relationship.

Two years since we bought our own apartment and moved in together.

Neither of us are the best at these so called _relationships_. But we try. There've been ups and downs, of course, and tons of arguments (usually solved with heated one vs one at the nearby basketball court at 3 AM). But overall, I'm happy. _We're_ happy. And although we're not always the most affectionate, and sometimes our sex looks like we're trying to kill each other... There's this mutual understanding between us that's... comfortable. We don't have to try hard to impress each other or put up an act to keep the relationship going. And I haven't _exactly_ told Kagami this... (not like I would ever tell him this embarrassing shit, he'd probably make fun of me) but when I think about the future (I know, I know, I sound like a hopeless romantic, shut up) Kagami's just always _there._

But lately Kagami has been acting strange.

He never looks me in the eye anymore, hardly ever smiles. And even when he does it never reaches his eyes. There's always some kind of pain hiding in the depths of those blood red eyes. Makes me think of a stereotypical shoujo manga where the heroine dies with a smile and tears running down her face.

Sometimes I find him in the apartment just sitting there, not doing anything in particular. I'll call out his name and he won't respond, just staring blankly at who knows what. I usually have to shove him roughly to get his attention. But even then, his words are slow as if the stupid idiot is trying to put thought into everything he's saying. Occasionally he locks himself in the bathroom for hours and won't answer me at all when I call out to him. Sometimes if I press my ear against the door of the bathroom it sounds like he's crying.

And he always looks so damn _tired_. Dark circles have etched themselves permanently under Kagami's eyes. Even after he sleeps a proper eight hours, they never even so much as even fade. And they only grow as the days pass.

Every Sunday he takes long extensive trips out to god knows where for almost the entire day. And he comes back with eyes red and sore from tears. He never tells me where he's going or why he was crying (he still denies that he was crying but it's pretty fucking obvious). 

But the worst part is watching as each day he gets a litter thinner, a little paler, a little dimmer. 

At first I thought he was cheating on me. But each night he clings desperately to me, murmuring my name over and over like it's the last time he'll ever say it. I may be an idiot, but I at least understand that much of his feelings.

It's probably something serious, but he hasn't said anything to me about it. And I haven't asked. Maybe it's because I'm an idiot and he's an idiot too. Maybe it's because I don't want to be the one to shatter our happy days. Maybe it's because I'm scared. For once, each day is interesting and I don't want to lose that. But somehow it feels like those happy days are slowly drifting away, like water dripping out of my cupped hands. What I thought I had a solid grip on is slowly melting and flowing away. As the days go by, I'm starting to lose everything. Him. Us.

Our happy days have already disappeared. 

That day when I saw the stack of papers on the table I don't know what compelled me to flip them over and read them. Maybe I was just so desperate to save our days together. Maybe I already knew that it was the answer to Kagami's odd behavior. I may be an idiot, but there are some things only idiots can understand.

I can't explain the shock that thrummed through me as I read the paper. It was like facing an opponent one hundred times stronger than I was. By the time I reached the end, I was shuddering, the hair on my neck standing on end. I felt _fear_. I used to think that the only one who can defeat me is myself. But now I have discovered an opponent who can and always will defeat me no matter how many times we fight. And I was the one who handed him the power to do so.

I heard the door open slowly, Kagami's soft footsteps as he walked in, the soft sound of him sighing, the soft thump as he roughly tossed his jacket and bag to the floor, the thud as he slumped against the wall and slid to the floor to take off his shoes, and then the soft tread of his bare feet as he stumbled into the living room. Even though I was facing away from him, in my mind I could clearly see as Kagami's dead eyes slowly roved around the room, searching for me. I could see his eyes light up a little and a faint, pained smile spread across his face as he headed towards me. And I could see as he froze in his tracks, his eyes glued to the stack of papers in my hand.

"…Aomine…" his quiet voice murmured, "…Did you read it?"

"No, I just decided that holding it in my hand is really fun," I scoffed sarcastically. Glancing over my shoulder I could see the hurt on his face. But for some reason I didn't feel sympathetic. I didn't feel sorry. I just felt angry and agitated and that feeling wasn't fading. And I know I loved the person in front of me and I know he loved me too but somehow... somehow it just wasn't clicking anymore. And all the times when I had felt happy with him, I suddenly can't remember them.

"I'm sorry, Aomine, I was going to tell you… I really was… It's just that—" Kagami mumbled gripping the edges of his shirt as he glanced nervously away from me.

I roughly grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him towards me as I spat "Just what? You think there's even a reason that you should hide something this important from me?" Kagami showed no signs of speaking so I continued. "You're dying Kagami! You're dying! And YOU THINK THAT'S NOT SOMETHING WORTH TELLING ME?" And suddenly I was shouting. I succumbed to my rage and let it take over. "You think I could just sit there and watch you die? You think you could've just… left me? Alone? And that wouldn't hurt me? Or anyone else? KAGAMI. ANSWER ME. TAIGA" I shoved him forcefully against a wall, his back hitting it with a dull thud. I heard him grunt and his forehead slumped against my shoulder, his dual toned hair tickling my neck. I felt something wet on my shoulder and I could tell he was crying. He reached for my hand hanging at my side and he pressed a small circle of cool metal into my palm.

"Aomine…" he murmured my name. "What?" I answered irritated, "If you have any lame excuse for—"

"Marry me."


	2. Chapter 2

_30 days._

_What would you do if you were told exactly how many days you had left to live? If you only had thirty? What would you do, in the last moments of your life?_

Each day is suddenly so much more important. You start noticing how precious each day is… And how much time you are wasting. You start rushing to accomplish everything you ever dreamed of. Those things you said you'd do one day change into things you need to do _now._ Suddenly you are bound by the most restricting deadline.

Yet somehow, I feel freer than ever. As if now, because there's a deadline, I can run at everything head on knowing that no matter what I do, how hard I fall, how much it hurts, it'll all be over soon.

When I was told that I only had thirty more days left, there was no shock, no despair. This is what I had been expecting from day one when the doctor first told me about my condition. And now I was ready. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much I had to struggle, I had two goals and would risk my life to accomplish them. After all, this life will soon be over.

* * *

 

* * *

The two stood next to each other in front of the priest in matching white suits, their heads bent towards each other as their lips touched softly. Each wore a gleaming silver ring on their ring finger. And his lips were chapped yet so soft at the same time and he looked hollow and dead (nothing like he would have imagined the groom at a wedding to look like) but at the same time so beautiful and Aomine felt tears spring in his eyes. And he nearly cried, very nearly, as he gazed lovingly at the glorious man standing before him knowing that this man was his, that they had just exchanged their eternal vow and soon... soon death would do them part. 

But as he gazed at the pale gray skin of his partner, mentally tracing his sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, pursed mouth, a small part inside of Aomine told him to man up. How dare he cry when Kagami was actually experiencing it. The pain and the fear. How dare he. 

And so, Aomine took a step forward before turning and offering his arm to Kagami, an easily forced smile dancing upon his face.

_Everything hurt. Every cell in his body was screaming in anguish. But seeing Aomine smiling so brightly put him at ease. It was different from his usual sarcastic smirk, but somehow, he could feel happiness radiating from Aomine and it calmed him. And the pain was gone. And he could smile. And everything was so perfect. And he was happy. Smiling weakly back, Kagami reached for his arm._

And the smile slipped, the façade shattered.

_Suddenly everything was spinning._

Adrenaline thrummed through every cell of his body as he watched the red head fall.

_Everything was too dark._

Under the bright, white lights, his skin was frighteningly pale.

_Too quiet._

Over and over he screamed out the name of his newly wed.

_Searching desperately he flailed for something, anything, for stability._

And Aomine was afraid, so afraid, as he rushed forward with extended arms. He felt the crowd jump into an uproar, surging towards the two in white. The two tied with silver rings. The two who were supposed to be having the happiest day of their lives. 

_Somehow he felt safe and stable and warm as he felt strong arms supporting him. He breathed in an all too familiar and comforting scent, a smiling crossing his face as he closed his eyes, and everything went dark._

A lot of thoughts flitted through his mind as he held the frail redhead in his arms. And as he stared in shock, he hoarsely began to mutter "No… no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. No. This isn't happening." But he knew it was happening. Even now as he held Kagami, he could feel his fragile, weak frame. He could feel how unbelievably light he was. And didn't he know? Didn't he know that this was what was going to happen? As soon as he had read that paper, this was his fate.

And he was supposed to be strong, but right now he felt so defeated. He couldn't move and his body was trembling. Fear. This was fear. He started chuckling softly as he threaded his hands through Kagami's dual toned hair, gripping desperately at it. Fear. And this was his opponent, a hopeless dying idiot who had sneaked into his heart and crushed it from the inside.

Somewhere he could hear people calling their names… then there were sirens. After that he didn't remember anything.

And the next thing he knew, he was staring at the pale, lifeless hand of his husband still thinking that this can't be true, too shocked even for tears.


	3. Chapter 3

"Aomine... Hey, Aomine!"

Someone was roughly shaking me, tugging at my hair, snatching at the blanket, screaming in my ear.

"What the fuck, Satsuki," I groaned, still half asleep. Shoving her hands away, I drawled, "Why the hell are you waking me up so early?"

"Basketball practice!" the pink-haired girl shouted, putting her hands on her hips and looking at me as if I was hopeless.

Now fully awake, I froze briefly. "Basketball... I don't play basketball anymore," I murmured, turning so my back was to Satsuki. I closed my eyes and hoped that she would go away. But after a few minutes, she was still standing there at the edge of his bed.

"Is it because of... Kagami?" she asked in a barely audible voice. Pretending not to have heard her, I continued to pretend to be sleeping. But she knew I had heard her. And I knew she knew. "Aomine... You don't wear you ring, you threw out all of his clothes and everything he left here. He may already be gone, but you can't avoid everything that reminds you of him and pretend he didn't exist. You can't keep running from it... Aomi-"

"Fuck off, Satsuki," I burst out, cutting her off. Sitting up I glared at her. "Fuck off! I'm not running from anything! Don't act like you always know what's running through my head!" Taken aback at his sudden outburst, Satsuki took a step back.

"I was only trying to help," she stuttered, glancing nervously toward the side.

"Help with what?"

"Your de-"

"I'm not depressed. I don't need any help. So get off my case and just leave me the fuck alone," I snarled. I watched silently as Satsuki retreated from the room. A moment later I heard my phone buzz. Reaching for it I saw a text from Kuroko, _Aomine, I know you miss Kagami, I miss him too, he was my light, but will you please just meet a psychologist? Just to make sure? We're all worried about you._ Fucking Satsuki. She was probably sitting outside his door texting Kuroko. Ignoring the text, I hurled my phone at the door. I heard a small shriek then the sound of retreating footsteps.

Everyone keeps telling me that I'm depressed. That I need to see a psychologist. That this was perfectly normal since my spouse just died. That please I just need to go get some help. But I'm not depressed. I'm not sure why everyone thinks I am, but they do and it's annoying as hell.

It's not that I'm trying to avoid anything and everything that reminds me of Kagami, I just don't see the point in wearing the ring of a dead person. Or keeping around useless clothes. Or playing basketball when there's no one able to beat me anymore.

My eyes slowly slid shut and sometime later I dozed off.

* * *

Wearily blinking awake, I stared bleary-eyed at the wall. I could hear the doorbell ring. It didn't continue to obnoxiously ring again and again so it probably wasn't any of his teammates or former ones. And Satsuki had a key.

Yawning, I sat up and looked around for my phone. Spotting it on the ground, I dragged myself out of bed to go pick it up. I jabbed at the power button in an attempt to turn it on. When the screen stayed dark, I pressed at all the buttons more anxiously. Was it out of battery? No, otherwise it would show a battery sign when I tried turning it on. Then remembering the last time I was awake, I tossed the useless phone onto my bed and made a mental note to buy a new phone.

I stumbled toward the front door and pulled it open. A huge brown box sat on the doorstep. Glancing around, I noticed a UPS truck driving away. Hefting the box up, I noted how heavy it was. Even though I had stopped playing basketball awhile ago, I was still fairly strong. After shutting the front door, I carried the box into the living room and dropped it on the couch. There was no sender.

Too lazy to find scissors, I ripped the box open. Inside was a whole ton of Kagami's shit. His basketball shoes, his clothes, his useless school notes, photos, trophies, practically everything Kagami had kept at his own house was sitting in this box. Who the fuck would send him Kagami's shit? And why? His phone was broken so he couldn't even ask Satsuki or Kuroko. With a sigh, I was about to pack everything back into the box when I noticed a disc marked "Aomine", scrawled in Kagami's shitty handwriting.

Reaching for it, I turned it over, as if on the back there would be some explanation from that idiot. "Of course there isn't," I muttered. I took the DVD and walked over to the DVD player. I jabbed at the DVD player and TV for a while, trying to figure out how they worked because shit he hadn't touched this stuff in... ever. Some idiot had always done everything for him.

After finally managing to get the DVD to play, I loped back to the couch and plopped down. Yawning, I stretched out, relaxed, and stared at the TV. The first few seconds of the DVD were blank. Then suddenly the face of some dual-toned hair idiot popped up. Lurching upright, I stared at the screen and Kagami stared right back. A multitude of emotions ran through me. But seeing his face, his beautiful fucking face, after so long was... amazing. And all I could do was stare.

Eventually Kagami moved and I heard him chuckle. And goddammit had his voice always been this sweet? Kagami blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "This is a little more embarrassing than I had imagined. But Aomine you're probably being an idiot so I guess I have to do this. Aomine." How long had it been since he had heard the voice he loved so much utter his name? This was probably all Satsuki's doing. I wanted to run up and turn everything off. But some part of me, deep down, told me not to. And since I'm an idiot, I listened to that part of me.

"I went to the hospital today. They told me I only have thirty days left to live. It wasn't that surprising, I had always known that I would die young. It's just a little shocking when you only get thirty days. But as I sat there listening to the doctors, I only wanted two things: to play basketball with you and to marry you." As he said that, the blush began to rise again and he glanced nervously away from the camera. "I'm such an idiot," he chuckled quietly to himself. The screen when black again. This time the words "Day 2" flashed across the screen before Kagami appeared again.

Grinning, Kagami explained, "Since it's such a short amount of time, Kise's helping me plan the wedding. It's a lot of work but Kise's really excited. Kuroko's also helping too. They're really helping. But hell I haven't even proposed to you yet. Well, hopefully you'll agree to marry an idiot like me." He chuckled before the screen went black.

Day 5

"Aomine, it hurts so bad..." Kagami was doubled over in what was obviously my bathroom. As Kagami sat there in pain, I could feel a sharp pain in my own chest. "Sorry, I know you're out there in the living room. But I don't want you to know. I don't want you to have to see me in pain and worry for the rest of my days. Once you know, I feel like you'll treat me differently. You'll try to be more gentle with me, probably won't play one-on-one either... So I know you'll probably hate me for not telling you... and I'm sorry, but even though I don't have a good excuse, I hope you'll forgive me." Kagami grinned weakly, grimacing from the pain.

Day 12

"Fuck, Aomine the doctor said I can't jump anymore. Apparently it's too stressful on my weak body. But I need to jump to even stand a chance against you at basketball. I'm still going to jump and keep jumping. Nothing they saw will stop me from playing basketball against you. After all I'm a basketball idiot."

Day 14

"We're no where near done planning the wedding. Fuck I still haven't even proposed to you. Or told you jack shit about what's going on. I just keep telling myself, 'I still have time... I still have time...' But I don't."

Day 22

Kagami sat in front of the camera, head bowed. He was shaking and faintly I could hear the sounds of him crying. "Fuck, this is recording..." Kagami muttered before reaching out to switch the camera off.

Day 23

"I finally told Kise and Kuroko about my... deadline yesterday. Kise wouldn't stop crying and Kuroko... He was so mad. So mad. And I promised him I would tell you as soon as I got back. But then you were there smiling like an idiot and asked if I wanted to play one vs one. And you were so... happy. Aomine... I'm not ready for my life to end. I want more time. I want more time with you... Why did I have to get this stupid fucking disease?" Holding his head in his hand, I watched as tears streaked down his face before the screen went black.

Day 27

"I'm sorry, Aomine. For not telling you earlier. I'm sorry you had to find out from that shitty piece of paper. I'm really... really sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't find the resolve to tell you. But thank you... for agreeing to marry me." Kagami grinned weakly again, but his face shone brighter than in any of the past days.

Day 30

"Thank you. Thank you for... for everything. Fuck, I'm becoming so sappy... Guess that's comes with the whole dying thing," Kagami chuckled, glancing away from the camera. "Aomine..." Kagami murmured, turning his gaze to stare right at me, "I love you." And the screen went black.

_Epilogue:_

Faintly he heard the sound of the front door being unlocked and opened. "Aomine?" Satsuki called out. Her soft footsteps entered the living room where Aomine sat hunched over on the couch. She saw him sitting there and noticed the box sitting beside him. A small bittersweet smile crossed her face as she turned and left. After locking his front door, she pulled out her phone and texted Kuroko, _Aomine will be fine now... I don't know what Kagami planned but it looks like it worked._

A minute later her phone buzzed and she saw Kuroko reply, _They're both idiots but they managed to stay together... There's no way Kagami would have just left Aomine like that._

Still sitting hunched on his couch, Aomine stared down at his shaking hands. And slowly tears began to fall.


End file.
